Automation Blueprints

Better Thermostat ships a collection of ready-made automation blueprints that take advantage of Better Thermostat’s purpose-specific device triggers.
Each blueprint can be imported into Home Assistant with one click and customised through the standard UI – no YAML editing required.

Available blueprints

1 · Notify when heating starts

File: blueprints/heating_active_notify.yaml

Sends a push notification every time a Better Thermostat device switches its hvac_action to heating. Helpful for tracking unexpected heating cycles or monitoring energy consumption patterns.

Input	Description	Default
Better Thermostat device	Device to monitor	–
Notification target	`notify.*` service to call	`notify.notify`
Message	Notification body (supports templates)	”🔥 … started heating.”

2 · High humidity alert

File: blueprints/humidity_high_alert.yaml

Fires when the humidity reported by a Better Thermostat device stays above a threshold (default 60 %) for more than 2 minutes. Can optionally turn on a ventilation switch and/or send a notification.

Input	Description	Default
Better Thermostat device	Device to monitor	–
Humidity threshold	% above which the trigger fires	`60`
Notification target	Optional `notify.*` service	(empty)
Ventilation switch	Optional `switch.*` to turn on	(empty)

3 · Low TRV battery notification

File: blueprints/battery_low_notify.yaml

Sends a push notification when the minimum battery level of all TRVs associated with a Better Thermostat device drops below the configured threshold (default 20 %). The alert is throttled to once every 24 hours per automation to avoid spam: a report within 24 hours of the previous notification is ignored.

Input	Description	Default
Better Thermostat device	Device to monitor	–
Battery threshold	% below which the trigger fires	`20`
Notification target	`notify.*` service to call	`notify.notify`

4 · Device error and target temperature alerts

File: blueprints/device_error_notify.yaml

A combined blueprint with two optional alerts:

Device error – fires when Better Thermostat records at least one device error (e.g. a TRV goes unavailable or reports a fault code).
Target temperature reached – fires after the room temperature has stayed at or above the setpoint for a configurable number of minutes.

Input	Description	Default
Better Thermostat device	Device to monitor	–
Notification target	`notify.*` service to call	`notify.notify`
Alert on device errors	Enable/disable the error alert	`true`
Alert when target reached	Enable/disable the temp-reached alert	`false`
Delay before “target reached” alert	Minutes at setpoint before firing	`5`

5 · Night mode (Sleep preset)

File: blueprints/night_mode.yaml

Activates the Sleep preset on one or more Better Thermostat devices while a Schedule helper is active, and restores the normal (none) preset when the schedule ends.

The Sleep preset temperature is configured directly in the Better Thermostat settings — no temperature input is needed here.

Prerequisite: The Sleep preset must be enabled in Better Thermostat’s configuration for each targeted thermostat.

Input	Description
Schedule helper	A `schedule.*` entity that defines the night window
Thermostats	One or more Better Thermostat devices / climate entities

6 · Away preset when nobody is home

File: blueprints/presence_away_preset.yaml

Activates the Away preset on Better Thermostat devices when all tracked persons or device trackers are away from home, and restores a configurable preset (default: none) when someone arrives back.

A configurable departure delay prevents short absences (e.g. walking the dog) from unnecessarily switching the heating. If someone returns during the delay, the pending switch to Away is cancelled and the home preset is restored. After the delay expires, presence is re-checked once more, and the Away preset is only applied if still nobody is home. Attribute-only updates of the presence entities (e.g. a new GPS position) do not restart the delay.

Input	Description	Default
Thermostats	Better Thermostat devices / climate entities to control	–
Presence entities	`person.`, `device_tracker.`, or `binary_sensor.*` entities	–
Delay before Away (min)	Wait this long after last person leaves	`10`
Preset when home	Preset to restore on arrival	`none`
Notification target	Optional `notify.*` service	(empty)

Tip: For multi-person households, create a group or use a binary_sensor that combines all person entities — the blueprint treats the list as an OR (anyone home = stay normal).

7 · Weekly Heating Schedule

File: blueprints/weekly_heating_schedule.yaml

The most powerful blueprint in the collection. Manages up to 4 independent time slots per day with fully separate preset assignments for weekdays (Mon–Fri), Saturday and Sunday.

Time slots

Each slot has a configurable start time and an independent preset per day type. Slot 1 is the earliest in the day; slots must be ordered chronologically.

Slot	Suggested name	Default time	Default weekday	Default Sat/Sun
Slot 1	Wake up	06:30	`comfort`	`sleep` (lie-in)
Slot 2	Daytime	08:30	`eco` (nobody home)	`comfort`
Slot 3	Evening	17:00	`comfort`	`comfort`
Slot 4	Night	22:30	`sleep`	`sleep`

All 8 BT presets are available per slot per day type: none, eco, away, boost, comfort, home, sleep, activity.

Additional features

Feature	How it works
Presence-based away mode	Enable + select one or more `person.` / `device_tracker.` / `binary_sensor.` entities (leave empty to disable). While none of them is home the Vacation preset* is applied instead of the schedule. Returns to the correct slot automatically on arrival.
Schedule pause switch	Point to one or more `input_boolean` helpers (leave empty to disable). The schedule is frozen while at least one of them is on; turning them off immediately re-applies the correct slot.
HA restart recovery	After a restart, waits 30 s for entities to load, then applies the currently correct slot (or vacation preset).
Notifications	Optional `notify.*` service receives a message on every slot change, presence event, and startup recovery.

Tip: Combine this blueprint with the Away preset when nobody is home blueprint by pointing both to the same presence entity — or simply use the built-in presence mode in this blueprint and skip the separate one.

Input group	Inputs
Target	Thermostats (device / entity target)
Slot 1	Start times & presets (Weekday / Saturday / Sunday)
Slot 2	Start times & presets (Weekday / Saturday / Sunday)
Slot 3	Start times & presets (Weekday / Saturday / Sunday)
Slot 4	Start times & presets (Weekday / Saturday / Sunday)
Presence	Enable toggle · presence entities · vacation preset
Pause	Enable toggle · input_boolean helpers
Notifications	notify.* target

How device triggers work

These blueprints use Better Thermostat’s purpose-specific device triggers. Each trigger maps directly to an attribute or action of the Better Thermostat climate entity:

Trigger type	Fires when
`heating_active`	`hvac_action` becomes `heating`
`heating_stopped`	`hvac_action` leaves `heating`
`window_opened`	`window_open` attribute becomes `true`
`window_closed`	`window_open` attribute becomes `false`
`humidity_high`	`humidity` attribute exceeds configured threshold
`battery_low`	Minimum TRV battery drops below configured threshold
`device_error`	`errors` attribute contains at least one error
`target_temp_reached`	Current temperature ≥ target temperature; with a cooler, the lower end of the target range counts as the target

You can also use these triggers directly in your own automations via the Automation editor → Add trigger → Device. Select your Better Thermostat device and choose the desired trigger type from the list.

Writing your own blueprint

All blueprints follow the same trigger pattern:

trigger:
  - platform: device
    domain: better_thermostat
    device_id: !input thermostat_device
    type: heating_active        # replace with any trigger type from the table above

Threshold-based triggers (humidity_high, battery_low) additionally accept above: / below: fields and an optional for: duration, for example:

trigger:
  - platform: device
    domain: better_thermostat
    device_id: !input thermostat_device
    type: humidity_high
    above: 65
    for:
      minutes: 5

See the Home Assistant blueprint documentation for full authoring guidance.